Brake mechanism for vehicles



J an. 16, 1923. 1,442,262.

C. F. FOLSOM.

BRAKE MECHANISM FOR VEHICLES.

FILED JAN. 31, I921.

Patented Jan. 16, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT o I-c CHARLES F. FOLSOM, on MALnENfM'Ass oHUsE TTsl BRAKE MECHANISM 7 non VEHICLES.

Application filed eanu ary 31, 1921. Serial -1Q0. 441,143.

' To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES F. FoLsoM,

a citizen of the United States of America,

a brake that is normally held in folded inoperative position in a compact and not un- I sightly'manner, and yet so arranged as to be instantly brought into position for'op eration with but slight effort, and by a perfectly natural action on the operator. 7

A further object is to produce a brake that contacts with the ground and acts in conjunction with the wheels of a" vehicle, preferably the rear wheels, which transfer their rolling movement to the shoes ofthe brake in such'manner that the said shoes will tend to wedge between the said wheels and the ground, the'wheels however not riding up on the shoes but rather exert a downward pressure on them through a roll or similar device interposed therebetween which will effectually brake the vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to constructv a brake of the character above mentioned, which, after braking the vehicle,"

may be restored to its normal position with but slight effort on the part of the operator,

and without the necessity of first moving" the vehicle backward to free the shoes from the wheels. I Various patents have been issued wherein ground contacting shoes have been used, but 1 in such manner that after the braking of the vehicle, the shoes could not be restored to inoperative position until the vehicle had been rolled rearwardly sufficiently for the wheels to disengage from them. It is an object of this lnvention to overcome this objectionable feature and therefore it is not the intention to limit this invention to the precise construction shown, as it is obvious that various changes might be made in the construction and arrangement thereof without part of the departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. e

' To the attainment of the above objects the invention consistsin certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be fully understood by reference to'the'description of the drawings and the claims hereinafter given.

Of the drawings? Figure 1 representsin side elevation'a' suflicient portion of a vehicle with the invention applied thereto to enable the operation thereof to be understood. 1

Figure 2 is top plan view of the brake mechanism, certain portions of the vehicle being shown in clotted lines.

Figure 3 is a detail to be referred to. V r Referring to the drawings The vehicle 10 mounted on the Wheels has conveniently secured thereto brackets 12 adapted tosupport a rock shaft 13, on

which a lever 1i is secured which in turnis pivotally connected to the hand lever 15 at thelower end thereof by means of the link 16. "The said-hand lever 15 being pivotally mounted ona segment shaped bracket 17 in which is a notch 18 adapted to receive the bolt 19 of alock member 20.

The hand lever 15 it will beunderstood is located conveniently for the operator and itwill also be understood that a pedal or foot lever attachment may be used in place thereof, and therefore it 'isnot the intention to limitthis invention to a manually operated brake mechanism; I

Fast with the shaft 13 are thedepending bifurcated arms 21 at the lower ends of whichare pivoted at 22 the shoes 23 havingrevolubly mounted therein the spool-like rolls 24. Finger-like projections '25 fast with the shoes 28 are provided fora purpose to be hereinafter explained. p

The full line position of the parts shown in-the drawings indicate the operative position thereof to brake the vehicle, while the dotted line position shows the normal or inoperative position thereof with the parts neatly folded up, in this instance under the runningfboard or step of the vehicle, and to great extent obscured from view.

For the proper operation of the brake it has been found advisable to mount the shoe carrying devices in such manner that relative movement of the shoes 23 and vehicle body 10 may take place and one means for so doing is herein shown. The brackets 12 which support the shaft 13 are provided with openings 26 through which. the said shaft passes, suitable slidable bearings 27 being provided therefor which will be guided in said openings. Springs 28 and 29in said openings are arranged to normally hold the said shaft 13 in central position in said openings but will yield upwardly or downwardly as required to compensate for movements ofthe body 10011 the springs 30.

As it is desirable for the sake of appearance to conceal the brake device when not in use, the pivot 22, previously referred to, is provided, and adjacent thereto the fingers 25 fast with the shoes 23 are so arranged as to contact with the depending brackets upon the upward movement of the arms 21.

When it is desired to restorethe brake deviceto normal position the hand lever15 will be moved forwardly until the bolt 19 enters the not-ch 18 in bracket "l7 thereby rocking the shaft 13 and breaking the toggle-lilac arrangement of the levers 21 and shoes 23 at the pivots 22. This movement requires but slight effort onthe part of the operator and effectually disengages the-shoes from their wedge-like contact with the ground and wheels. The aforesaid rocking of the shaft 13 causes the arms 21 to assume the dotted line position Figure 1 and in so doing the fingers 25 will be brought in contact with the brackets swinging the shoes into the dotted line position shown in said figure at which position the parts will-be securely locked until again released by the locking members 19 and 20.

It isan essential feature of the invention that a wedge-lilrefaction shall be performed by the shoes 23 and it is equally essential that the wheels 11 shall not ride up on the shoes 23, and to overcome the latter the spool-like rolls 2a are revolubly mounted in said shoes and are so located as-to receive a downward pressure from the remlving wheels, and since they revolve by reason of contact with the wheels it will be readily understood that the said wheels will not leave the ground nor will they be retarded in rotation relatively to the forward movement of the body 10.

In other words, the shoes 23 do not wedge the wheels so that rotation thereof is stopped, but the rolling movement thereof will be transformed to a downward pres-' the ground, thereby causing a rapid yet' harmless stoppage to the vehicle.

It is obvious that the invention is equally useful in stopping a vehicle when skidding,

and to givegreater lateral resistance to toe:

arms 21 the rolls 24 are concaved to embrace the tires of the vehicle to thereby receive and overcome the lateral strain that would be imposed upon the said arms at the most effectual point.

Having described the invention I claim:

1. In a device of the class described. a vehicle body; wheels thereon; a rock shaft; shoe carrying arms secured to said rock shaft non-rotatable shoes; shoes pivotally connected to said arms and adapted to be positioned in advance of said wheels; rolls carried by said shoes adapted to; contact with said wheels and transform the rotary movement thereo-fto a depressing movement to said shoes; and means to position, said shoes.

2. In a device of the class described, a vehicle body; wheels thereon; brackets attached to said body; a rock shaft yieldingly mounted in said brackets; brake rmecha including non-rotatable shoes movable with said shaft adapted to lie/positioned in ad-' vance of said wheels; and means toposition said brake mechanism.

.3. In a device of the classndescrihed, a vehicle body; wheels thereon; a vrock shaft;

bearings in which said rock shaft is yieldingly mounted; an {arm fast to saidirock shaft; a shoe pivoted to said arm, said arm and shoe being adapted to be positioned for use in advance of the-said wheelsbut normally held in retracted-position; a linger like projection fast with said shoeada pted to engagea projection extending from the body ,ofthe vehicle whereby the said shoe.

will: be caused to fold upon the saidwarm during the retracting vmovement thereof;

and, means .toflhold said arm and shoe in said retracted .posltlon.

Signed by me ratlBoston, fl\ Ia ss. this 28th day of January, 1921.. I CHARLES FO LSOhI 

